can we learn how to be good parents from books?

I am a mother, I don’t want anybody to tell me how to raise my children. However, I did read everything there about pregnancy and labor. I did want to educate myself to be a better mother to my newborn. Just reading was not enough; my mother helped me a lot with hands on and many other advices. My mother learned how to take care of newborns from books, she didn’t have her mother to help her, Dr. Spoke was her advisor :) and she was so sorry later that she obeyed him religiously. I learned that even when you read a book or an article and agree with the content life will always correct and improve your knowledge. Can you learn to be a parent from books? The problem is that the older my children got the fewer books I read. I was lucky compare to others, my job required learning about child development and I have dealt with kids every day of my adult life. I applied what I learned in my classes and at home. When I think back I feel awe, what would happen to my kids if I didn’t learn from books and from talking to my students.